Back to the Basics in Local SEO

Search engine optimization is the marketing practice of placing industry relevant keywords in the content on your website pages. When your target market audience uses these same keywords in a search engine, your website appears towards the top of the search results page. It is a beneficial, inexpensive marketing practice for many businesses. There is another emerging type of SEO practice and that is local SEO that helps increase your brand awareness within your local geographical area. Here are the key areas you need to focus on when working on enhancing your local SEO exposure.

Google Your Business

Google is the leader in Internet search information and you need to take advantage of this by making sure your business listing displays the correct information so that customers in your local geographical area can easily find your business. For example, if a potential customer conducts a search for ‘seo service Toronto’, you would want your business appearing at the top of the available search results.

Check your business listing by googling yourself to see how your information appears. If there are changes you need to make, visit the Google business account webpage, create an account and make the necessary changes. Bookmark the page as a reference point so you can always keep your business listing up-to-date as necessary.

Local Reviews

One of the biggest impacts on your local SEO exposure is maintaining a listing in your local online reviews websites. Yelp is a popular website review page that would be a good starting point for collecting local customer reviews of your business. You also want to have several reviews showing on the Google review page as well.

Feel free to ask valuable customers to visit the website and leave a positive review on your behalf. You may want to consider providing instructions on your website that lets customers know how they can review your business. Include keyword phrases you might want them to include in your review, such as ‘the best seo services Toronto has to offer’ to further enhance your local SEO exposure.

You want to add your city and local region information in a prominent location on your website. It helps search engines easily target your site when local customers conduct a search for your type of business. Consumers often prefer to do business with companies that are right in their backyard.